xkcd

by **Jessica** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:18 pm UTC

I read on Ellis's website that they're giving away transmet as "comics to read when you're done watchmen". Which is pretty funny (also on the list I believe was planetary).

by **Endless Mike** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:12 pm UTC

He should try finishing Planetary before recommending it.

Seriously.

by **Jessica** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:40 pm UTC

He's not recomending it. DC is.
And it's only the first issue.

by **Endless Mike** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 3:04 pm UTC

Oh okay. That's different, then.

DC should still wait till he finishes it.

by **dbsmith** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:43 pm UTC

Just had a quick trip over to Melbourne, Oz. Bought Fables 5-8, Y: Last Man 1-2, Preacher Vol 1.
Verrrry happy with all of them (although Fables storylines better get better....)

by **Rodan** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:29 am UTC

My list back on page one is woefully incomplete, I realize now that time has passed.
But it says to only recommend one now, and when I hear "recommend" I think "obscure", so I recommend Robot Dreams, a delightful little gem I found and read in the bookstore and then subsequently bought.
It's mostly silent, it has robots, and it's wonderful.

by **Hybrid Soldier** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:05 pm UTC

The Halo Graphic Novel was really goot it contains 4 good stories that follows the story line well. It has really good artwork and explains how johnson escaped the Ring in Halo 1

by **Jesse** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 8:41 pm UTC

Yeah? I've enjoyed the three novels written by the one good writer currently writing for them (Whose names escapes me. Did the first, third and Onyx books). I'll have to look into the GN.

by **Hybrid Soldier** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:55 pm UTC

Jesse wrote:Yeah? I've enjoyed the three novels written by the one good writer currently writing for them (Whose names escapes me. Did the first, third and Onyx books). I'll have to look into the GN.

The guy who wrote them was Eric Nylund, He is the best writer out of all of them, I liked thes second one because you got to experience the first game through the eyes of the other marines and the Covenant. The Cole Protocol is pretty good (half way through) and Tobias S. Buckell I think has done a great job.

by **Caudebac** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 6:25 am UTC

Don't know if this has been recced yet, but Walking Dead is great. Especially for those prepping themselves for the inevitable zombie invasion.

by **Zohar** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 6:46 am UTC

I liked Walking Dead at first, but then it got a bit too soap opera for me and I stopped reading it. I love Kirkman's other stuff, though. Invincible, for example, is a pretty refreshing and interesting super-hero comic.

by **songwithnosoul** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 1:50 am UTC

I'm nth-ing Runaways and Maus-- both great reads. I also recommend Bone, a great fantasy series about three creatures called "bones" who get lost, and end up in a far-off valley and in the middle of a long-coming war.

by **Endless Mike** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:52 pm UTC

Bone is wonderful. The one-volume edition is only like $30 on Amazon and worth probably twice that.

I made a thread about it, but I HIGHLY recommend Asterios Polyp by David Mazzuchelli.

by **wqdiia** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 12:01 am UTC

Tried to come up with something good that hasn't been mentioned yet, and somehow ended up with superserious French art comic stuff. Oh well.

Ordinary Victories by Manu Larcenet, four parts, recently finished. I thought it was lovely and had a realistic feel to it.
The Beast Trilogy by Enki Bilal. Loved the art, though the story is kind of... gloomy and hard to follow at times.
Peter Pan and other series by Regis Loisel. So Very Pretty to look at.

by **Grop** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 3:34 pm UTC

Yes Larcenet is awesome!

While we're at French stuff (and since Amazon tells me they made an English version), I recommend Dungeon, the series by Lewis Trondheim and Joan Sfar (plus lots of guest authors).

It's quite a big thing with several subseries and three main stories (set at three different times), so I would start with Dungeon Zenith.

It is mostly humourous and epic, a parody of heroic fantasy. The artwork is quite outlandish, some people may find it ugly.

(Oh, and it may look quite naive at first sight, but it is extremely violent).

by **KallistiEngel** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 8:29 pm UTC

-Transmetropolitan
-The Crow (The original series by J. O'Barr only. None of the crap that came after that)
-Johnny the Homicidal Maniac if you're into violent, sometimes random humor (and by extension: Squee!!!, and I Feel Sick)
-Tank Girl

by **littlebuddy** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 9:50 pm UTC

I enjoyed Girls by the luna bros
and the goon by eric powell, not really a graphic novel i guess
and cannabis works by tatsuyuki tanaka
and peter pan by loisel as someone else mentioned

by **Hybrid Soldier** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:47 am UTC

So I have read A whole lot more along the way sooo let me give you some of my favorite series

Y: The Last Man
Fables
Transmetropolitan
Deadpool-------------(The greatest character ever)
Marvel Civil War Series
Spider-Man: Back In Black (takes place right after Marvel Civil War)
Thunderbolts---------------------(EXCELLENT STORY)
Anything Avengers
Watchmen
V For Vendetta
Spawn
Also Essentials are nice to read, they come in a bunch of volumes, and the first volumes contain issues 1-20, I have only read Spider-Man Essentials and Iron Man so far

Theres a bunch more but thats enough for now. I'm a marvel, Watchmen is the ONLY DC I own

by **KallistiEngel** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:21 am UTC

Hybrid Soldier wrote:Theres a bunch more but thats enough for now. I'm a marvel, Watchmen is the ONLY DC I own

That's a shame, Sandman is by far one of the best comics/graphic novels I've ever read. It's on DC's Vertigo imprint.

by **SecondTalon** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:10 pm UTC

Man, professing total loyalty to Marvel or DC is... kinda stupid. They both suck and are both run by complete idiots who seem to have nothing but contempt for their readers.

I'm fairly convinced that years ago, both DiDio and Quesada both came to an agreement that Marvel and DC had spent too long at the top and the only way to allow for, say, Dark Horse or Boom! to have a shot was if Marvel and DC self-destruct. And yet, despite editorial mandates that defy logic and seem to be crafted to drive away long time readers, people keep buying their shit. Boggles the mind.

by **Hybrid Soldier** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:18 pm UTC

KallistiEngel wrote:
Hybrid Soldier wrote:Theres a bunch more but thats enough for now. I'm a marvel, Watchmen is the ONLY DC I own

That's a shame, Sandman is by far one of the best comics/graphic novels I've ever read. It's on DC's Vertigo imprint.

The Vertigo series has some really good graphic novels Y and fables were the first series I read. I just was not big into DC's superheros except for Batman I really liked him and I read Red Sun and thought that was an amazing story. I just like marvels story's better.

SexyTalon wrote:Man, professing total loyalty to Marvel or DC is... kinda stupid. They both suck and are both run by complete idiots who seem to have nothing but contempt for their readers.

I'm fairly convinced that years ago, both DiDio and Quesada both came to an agreement that Marvel and DC had spent too long at the top and the only way to allow for, say, Dark Horse or Boom! to have a shot was if Marvel and DC self-destruct. And yet, despite editorial mandates that defy logic and seem to be crafted to drive away long time readers, people keep buying their shit. Boggles the mind.

The Dark horse series that I have only read was Star Wars and for the life of me I cant remember these 2 comics I read when I was younger

The First: It was the story of a man who was assisting the rebel alliance that you did not know to much about until the second issue where it turns out he used to be one of the red guys who protected palpatine and it shows a flash back to a time when he and his friend had to preform in front of palpatine as to who was going to be his guard. In the fight he wore a gold suit and his friend wore a pink one. At the end of the fight he killed his friend and was deeply desterbed by it

The Second: It was a what if story about what if luke failed at destroying the death star

Thats all I can remember if you know any of the series/book I am talking about PLEASE let me know I would love to read them again

by **Jesse** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:55 pm UTC

Hybrid Soldier, this is for you. Go to your comics store, or internet or whatever you use. Somehow get hold of Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis. Come back when this has changed both your life and outlook on comics.

by **Endless Mike** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:46 pm UTC

Hybrid Soldier wrote:So I have read A whole lot more along the way sooo let me give you some of my favorite series

Transmetropolitan

Jesse wrote:Hybrid Soldier, this is for you. Go to your comics store, or internet or whatever you use. Somehow get hold of Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis. Come back when this has changed both your life and outlook on comics.

I think Hybrid Soldier is just not very good at knowing who publishes his favorite comics. I don't really agree with Transmet changing his life, since all did for me is bore me after the first dozen or so issues.

If we're mentioning the DC Comics that Hybrid Soldier owns, let's go all out -
Y: The Last Man
Fables
Transmetropolitan
in the US, V for Vendetta
Of course, it's possible HS meant that was the only issue of the DC imprint, not a comic published by DC which is a slight difference. -ST

by **Endless Mike** » Fri Feb 12, 2010 9:47 pm UTC

^^^No, I think I was commenting on someone recommending Transmet to him when he listed it among books he read.

I've recently read through the full (up to now) Scott Pilgrim series. I highly recommend it to anyone versed in nerd culture. If "save point" means nothing to you, don't bother. Volumes 1-5 are out, and Volume 6 (which will be the end of the current story arc, if not the series) is due out at some point. Each Volume tells a mostly complete story, while being part of the overall narrative. It's all written and drawn by Bryan Lee O'Malley. There's also a movie starring Michael Cera coming out.

by **Victor Anomalous** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:20 pm UTC

Loved these books!

Locke and key
20th century boys
empire
rising stars
atomic robo
G.I. Joe cobra
Northlanders

by **SecondTalon** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 6:43 pm UTC

And those are in recommendation to....?

I don't like "Recommend X" threads. I don't like blind recommendations with little to no regard of who is reading it. I especially don't like blind recommendations that are lists with no explanation as to why anyone should give a shit. I do like threads where you recommend something to a specific person because they've lined out what they like and don't like, and you're giving them suggestions for things that are similar, or suggestions on how to expand their horizons.

WHY should I read Rising Stars? Who would Atomic Robo appeal to? What's something similar to Northlanders so I can get an idea as to what I'm walking in to?

Explain your list.

by **Victor Anomalous** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 1:47 pm UTC

You're right good point. I was running out the door when I saw the post and was compelled to throw in my 2 cents.

Locke & Key: If you like lovecraft and stephen king this is your jam. Its a perfect blend of the family tragedy drama mixed with supernatural horror. I can't recommend it enough.

20th century boys: I'm not a big manga guy but anything by naoki Urasawa is gold. Someone makes an apocalypse cult based on villains from a kids imaginary battle between good and evil. The kid grows up to be a slacker but when faced with the villians from his childhood imagination he has to make himself into the hero he envisioned himself to be as a kid. It's really high concept with a great slow burn.

Moster: another Naoki Urasawa book. About a neurosurgeon who saves a little boys life only to see him grow up to be a serial killer. The doctor spends his life tracking down the boy to fix his mistake of saving him. Again, a good slow burn thriller if you're into that kind of thing.

Empire: About a super villain that actually succeeds in taking over the world. The book answers the question, what now?

Atomic Robo: This, I can't really pitch, its to simple, and its hard to define other than its just a good blend of great story and funny as hell. If you have an iphone you can download the first issue on the app store. I was instantly hooked.

GI Joe: Cobra I don't really care for pretty much anything GI Joe so this surprised the hell out of me. I passed it off to a friend of mine that had 0 tie to the franchise and really enjoyed it as well. It's just a great espionage story about a man that's in waaaaay over his head trying to get okay with doing for horrible things for good.

Enjoy!

j

by **Victor Anomalous** » Thu Apr 01, 2010 2:18 pm UTC

Jorpho wrote:I was reading a lot about Cerebus the Aardvark on TVTropes and Wikipedia the other day. Seems to fall rather short of the "awesome" classification, though.

Anyone here ever try to tackle this thing? It sounds like quite the mindscrew.

I loved Cerebus! It's a pretty tricky niche following though. It's way funnier than you would think. It's this weird mash-up of Conan, marx-brothers, political satire, scathing misogyny, looney tunes, black adder... Each book is very different from the last. Book 1 is a straight up hilarious Conan satire. Book 2 is a satire on how the election process works and doesn't Book 3 and 4 satires on the relationship between church and state. Dave sim gets a lot of flack and press for his misogyny it's there but don't let it deter you from reading him, there's good stuff there. It would be like not going to disney world because Walt hated the jews.

j

by **Endless Mike** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:49 pm UTC

Atomic Robo is good for people who enjoyed Hellboy. If you haven't read that, I can't really give a better description.

In a similar vein, I would recommend Tales from the Bully Pulpit if you can find a copy. It's about Teddy Roosevelt and the ghost of Thomas Edison traveling through time to stop Jorge Hitler (Adolph's Argentinian descendent) from taking over Mars.

by **Endless Mike** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 5:24 pm UTC

I finished Queen and Country: The Definitive Edition Vol. 1 (currently of 4) written by Greg Rucka pencilled by a few artists last night and I'm going to throw it out there. It's a real-world espionage series about a group within the British SIS (roughly equivalent to the CIA). Damned good read with nice, if cartoony, art.

by **El Spark** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:32 pm UTC

(since you asked) Rising Stars is simply the best story arc I've ever read in the twenty-some years I've been reading comics. It has a solid beginning and middle and a supernova of an ending, and he doesn't fart around with sequels or allowing anything to get in the way of a relentless story. And the thing is, you KNOW from the very first page (all right, fine)

Spoiler:

but the whole thing is handled deftly enough that you want to find out how that situation is brought about. I cry at the end. Every time.

Atomic Robo reads like what would happen if the love-child of Mike "Hellboy" Mignola and Jim "The Muppets" Henson was raised by Nikola Tesla and HP Lovecraft. It's a plain romp, and to give you an idea of what we're looking at here, here's the plot of one of the stories: Atomic Robo (the robot created by Tesla as an assistant and a way to tell the other scientists to sit and whistle) is summoned by his handler because the pyramids in Egypt have turned into giant city-destroying mechs. In another one, he

Spoiler:

I haven't read anything as fun as AR in a long, long time.

by **Jorpho** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:56 pm UTC

What if I find I have trouble overcoming my aversion for how Mr. Clevinger has run 8-Bit Theater into the ground?

by **El Spark** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 5:34 pm UTC

Well, it's a legit gripe, and one that I suffered from myself. I guess the only thing I can tell you is to give it a shot. I'm really glad that I did.

I mean, you can live a full and happy life without reading Atomic Robo. Somehow. I can conceive of it, so it must be possible.

I guess.

>.>

by **SecondTalon** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:36 pm UTC

Re: Atomic Robo

Hellboy, to me, is comprised of two parts - Goofy Fun Monster Smashups With Oversized Guns and Slow Paced Esoteric Character Development and lots of Big Words that require trips to Wikipedia to Figure Everything Out.

Atomic Robo borrows heavily from the first, but not really too much (if anything) from the second. Hellboy makes reference to shit buried deep in Authurian Myth, Atomic Robo's most "out there" reference so far has been to Lovecraft. I'm not saying that's a bad thing - far from it. I'm just saying that though Hellboy is the closest thing to Atomic Robo, certain parallels could be drawn to Impulse or Deadpool too - parallels which aren't replicated with Hellboy.

by **The Pigeons' Rule** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 8:49 am UTC

Anything by Daniel Clowes would be a great choice, if you ask me. Someone else recommend him above. Not superhero-related, but still.

by **edpiskor** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 7:13 pm UTC

The Pigeons' Rule wrote:Anything by Daniel Clowes would be a great choice, if you ask me. Someone else recommend him above. Not superhero-related, but still.

The new book Dan Clowes did, Wilson, is freaking Fantastic. Each page is done as a separate gag strip, drawn in a different style, but the book works as a single unit, tell a complete story. It's extremely well done.

by **alden** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 5:36 pm UTC

I like Clowes a lot too! I need to check out that Wilson thing. Maybe it's time to pay off my library fines.

A couple more non-super-hero suggestions:

Safe Area Goražde by Joe Sacco
One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry
Quitter by Harvey Pekar
It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken by Seth
The Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Kim Deitch
Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup Stories by Gilbert Hernandez

I will also second anything by Chris Ware though he was mentioned before. Probably my favorite! Also the people above have a bunch of other good books too.

by **Jorpho** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 11:43 pm UTC

alden wrote:One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry

Wow, that's unexpected.

You can in fact read some of her work at http://dir.salon.com/topics/lynda_barry/ , including a reasonable bit of One Hundred Demons (starting on page 4).

by **alden** » Sat Jul 03, 2010 4:43 am UTC

Jorpho wrote:
alden wrote:One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry
Wow, that's unexpected.

Aw, why should it be unexpected that someone might have good taste? :D

I think it is more crazy that after further research, the person I replied to, Ed Piskor, has ostensibly drawn some stories for Harvey Pekar, whom I unwittingly suggested. Small fucking world!

by **edpiskor** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 6:48 am UTC

alden wrote:
Jorpho wrote:
alden wrote:One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry
Wow, that's unexpected.

Aw, why should it be unexpected that someone might have good taste?

I think it is more crazy that after further research, the person I replied to, Ed Piskor, has ostensibly drawn some stories for Harvey Pekar, whom I unwittingly suggested. Small fucking world!

Yeah dude, the Quitter is one of Harv's best too.

Who is online